Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district

Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district
Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Current Representative	Ryan Costello (R–West Chester)
Distribution	85.78% urban 14.22% rural
Population (2000)	646,221
Median income	55,611
Ethnicity	87.9% White 6.8% Black 2.1% Asian 3.7% Hispanic 0.1% Native American 0.2% other
Cook PVI	R+2

Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District is a congressional district in the state of Pennsylvania. It includes communities north and west of the City of Philadelphia. It is represented by Ryan Costello

The district was substantially redrawn in 2002 and again slightly modified in 2012. Its strange shape in 2002 brought charges of gerrymandering by Democrats who argued it "looms like a dragon descending on Philadelphia from the west, splitting up towns and communities throughout Montgomery and Berks Counties." The combination of very affluent suburban areas of Philadelphia and sparsely populated rural areas was possibly designed to capture Republican voters, but changes in voting patterns in southeastern Pennsylvania has made the District much more competitive. The District had a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of R+1 after the 2012 redistricting. It was rated D+4 before then.

The redistricting of 2011/2012 changed it to include parts of Chester, Montgomery, Berks and Lebanon counties.

Gerlach has served as the District's Representative since 2003. In 2004 and 2006, Gerlach won re-election against fellow attorney and now Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Lois Murphy. In 2008, he successfully ran for re-election against businessman and veteran Bob Roggio. In the 2010 and 2012 elections, Gerlach defeated physician and Iraq War veteran Manan Trivedi, the Democratic nominee.

In January, 2014 Gerlach announced that he would not stand for reelection to the 114th Congress. In the race to succeed Gerlach, Chester County Commissioner Ryan Costello has won the Republican nomination and physician and Iraq war veteran Manan Trivedi has secured the Democratic party's nomination.

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